Speed kills.
Proof will be on display when the University of Hawaii and NorCal Premier meet in a men’s volleyball exhibition tonight in the Stan Sheriff Center. First serve is at 7 p.m.
For this exhibition match — and every home match this coming season — the velocity of serves, spikes and, yes, kills will be shown on the arena scoreboard. The program purchased two radar guns.
The postings are strategic, much in the way baseball uses speed guns to determine if starting pitchers are losing oomph on late-inning fastballs. It also will double as fan-interactive entertainment.
Taylor Averill, UH’s AVCA All-America middle, will unveil his new booming jump serve. Last season, Averill relied on a float serve.
"His ball flight used to be antenna to antenna, floor to ceiling," UH coach Charlie Wade said. "He is crushing his jump serve. He’s much more consistent. He’s much more under control. He’s in such good shape he’s hitting the ball really hard."
Averill’s serves were clocked at 62 to 65 mph this training camp, including the round robin at Long Beach two weeks ago.
Last season, Averill led the nation with .477 hitting. In the offseason, there were discussions about moving Averill to the pins.
"As a coach, how do I get more point-scoring out of him when he’s only playing three rotations?" Wade said. "Can I find a way to keep him on the floor for six rotations and get more scoring out of him?"
But a two-part argument resulted in Averill staying put. He is the Warriors’ best blocker, and the opposite attackers have played well this fall.
Opposite attacker Brook Sedore, the team’s most prolific pin hitter, is entering his senior season.
Ryan Leung is challenging for the starting opposite’s job. The 2010 Hawaii Baptist graduate played sparingly for two seasons at Pepperdine. He transferred to UH, but missed most of the 2013 season because of a foot injury. He was not on the team last season. But Leung kept working out, rejoined the Warriors, and has proven to be a consistent hitter and passer.
Iain McKellar, the third opposite candidate, was at middle for one of last week’s practices. The next day, Wade recalled, McKellar "looked like he wanted to tell everyone, ‘I’m not going back in the middle.’ He was the best opposite in the gym (that practice)."
There are blood-splatter marks as evidence.
"He bloodied a guy," Wade said of McKellar. "We won’t name names, but he absolutely hit a ball hard-cross that hit a guy straight in the face."
Wade said Jennings Franciskovic and Alex Jones, a Cal State Northridge graduate, will split time at setter in the exhibition.
Wade said Franciskovic is "a little further ahead, but Alex keeps plugging away. He has days when he’s just so steady."
Jones, 22, who transferred this summer, is pursuing a master’s degree at UH.
"He solves problems on the floor," Wade said of Jones. "You listen to the conversations he has with his teammates. If something went wrong, he’s quickly working on the solution — whether it’s his adjustment, the other guy’s adjustment, getting on the same page, whatever it is. That stuff is so valuable."
NorCal Premier is a team that competes in the Premier Volleyball League, a regional indoor pro league sanctioned by USA Volleyball.
Tickets for Tuesday’s match are priced at $8 (adult), $6 (ages 65 and older), and $4 (ages 4-18). There is no admission fee for UH students with proper IDs.